Location: Tokyo Dome, Japan

It's been a busy couple of weeks for Sayuki Matsumoto who continues her impressive start within BBU ranks having dispatched Lisa Maffia and Karolina Kurkova and needing only a total of eight rounds in the proccess. Her next opponent is Beever's Babes' Tiana Benjamin who last fought in the BBU championships quarterfinal where she lost to Karolina Kurkova. Despite that performance and the fact Matsumoto knocked Kurkova out soon afterwards, the sultry English girl promises to turn the tide both on herself as well as the Japanese's unbeaten record.

The fight takes place in Tokyo Dome Arena; it's scheduled for ten rounds in the lightweight division.

Sayuki Matsumoto wearing a white bikini and black gloves. Tiana Benjamin wearing a scarlet bikini and black gloves.

Round 1:
The crowd cheers their local favorite on, but Matsumoto circles around the ring and waits for the visitor to step in. Benjamin hesitates at first, but eventually moves forward jabbing to the midsection. Sayuki jumps away to the ropes and refuses to engage in any careless slugfest. Benjamin tries to chase her down and lands a good hook to the ribs, but Matsumoto responds with a left swing to the face that misses as Tiana raised her glove quick enough to block it off. Both women clinch and struggle for position, they push each other back to center of the ring where Tiana tries to hit her opponent at the back of the head. Referee steps in and separates them. Sayuki throws a low jab to the ribs and the English girl jumps away from the striking zone. Sayuki refuses to step in again and the round ends on a low-key note.

Round 2:
It's Benjamin trying to take advantage of her foe's cautious start; she throws a solid combination to her head, but Matusmoto covers that with ease. Tiana moves forward again though and lands a couple of good hooks to the stomach which firmly put the Asian on the back foot. Benjamin pushes her along the ropes with some wild swings that miss the target though but as Sayuki is pinned in the corner, the English girl unleashes a furious attack and lands a number of unanswered jabs to the stomach. Sayuki bends down and tries to duck away; she swerves around Tiana's flying gloves until she manages to catch a break and clinches in despair. Tiana is upset, she tries to pound her rival in the cheek with a lacing punch, ref steps in and calls it illegal. Benjamin is furious but Sayuki has been let off the hook! The Japanese girl continues to circle around the ring avoiding any serious attacks but Tiana feels she's done enough to win the round on points regardless.

Round 3:
Everyone is waiting for Sayuki to finally burst into life and there are signs of that early in the third as she unleashes a good combination to her rival's midsection pushing the visitor back against the ropes. Sayuki works on Tiana with some well-measured uppecuts but it's almost too artistic to cause any serious damage to the English slugger. Benjamin easily covers up and seeks a way to clinch herself out of trouble. Matsumoto not as clinical as in her previous two fights allows her to lean forward and force the referee to break this stalemate. Back at center of the ring, the action continues with both women stepping forward almost at the same time and throwing big hooks to each other heads. Tiana's punch goes wayward, but Sayuki's skims off the visitor's nose and forces her back. However Matsumoto herself was somewhat surprised by Tiana's flying hook and jumped back herself almost immediately and was unable to follow up on the briefly stunned rival. By the time she squared up to Benjamin, she could only land some single jabs against the guard and quickly resigned into circling around her opponent.

Round 4:
Still no real fireworks to speak of in this bout. Is Sayuki showing signs of fatigue after contesting her third fight in the last fortnight? The crowd feels they need to support their girl and the intensity in the Tokyo Dome has raised significantly before the fourth. Matsumoto glances beyond the ropes and looks to have accepted the hopes of the entire crowd gathered around as she suddenly storms out of her stool and immediately catches Tiana in the nose. She goes for the follow up but the English girl has jumped back in agony, more using her instinct rather than true awareness and Sayuki's uppercut sails through the air. Nonetherless she tries to pin Benjamin against the ropes but Tiana sidesteps and circles around her. She covers up and Matsumoto's brief moment of advanatge results in some fruitless jabbing against the guard. Tiana keeps her gloves in tact and Sayuki's punches are not causing any real damage, the most significant one still being that blow to the nose from opening stages of the round. However the constant pummelling along the ropes should do enough to convince the judges to give this round to the local girl and stop Benjamin's momentum.

Round 5:
Tiana's nose looks to be alright despite some concerns during the interval but she's very defensive at the start of the fifth and literally invites Sayuki to move forward. Indeed the Asian wastes little time and nails her rival in the stomach before going for another uppercut combination. Benjamin jumps away but is soon pushed against the ropes again as Sayuki lands more jabs to the ribs and body. Tiana covers up and finds herself at the receiving end of yet another flurry of unanswered blows before finally being able to clinch. Sayuki briefly stopped her forward rout, catching her breath, and Benjamin quickly pounced on the opportunity and leaned on her. More pushing and shoving goes on along the ropes as both women end up in the middle of the ring soon, trying to get something going. Benjamin jabs her foe's stomach and the annoyed Japanese accidentally headbutts her in the nose. Worst case scenario for the English girl!!! Her noses starts to bleed for good now and the referee is there to stop the fight. However just as he jumps in, the bell sounds and Tiana will be able to have her nose checked during the interval.

Round 6:
An extensive work has been done to stop the bleeding from Benjamin's nose and the ref allows her continue at the start of the sixth. Matsumoto is clearly aware of her rival's problems and works around her high guard trying to open the wound again. Not many punches are being thrown in this round, Sayuki is lured by an opportunity to score a quick doctor stoppage TKO while Tiana wants to catch her break back and regain some momentum before the upcoming rounds. The crowd sensed this fight being over soon, but as time progresses, they seem to lose their hopes. Sayuki continues throwing single jabs targeting the nose, while Benjamin is happy with circling around the ring. Inside the last minute, the local girl finally becomes more agile and intense but Tiana clinches her and after a lenghty and fruitless struggle, the bell brings this uneventful round to a close.

Round 7:
Sayuki shakes her head before the seventh, knowing that her tactics in the sixth were all wrong. She ignores Tiana's nose wound and starts working on her midsection again instead. A good low combination sends the vistitor back against the ropes, but once again she escapes before Matsumoto can trap her in the corner for good. The Japanese is literally hassling Benjamin around the ring for most of the round but the English girl seems well prepared physically and shows little signs of fatigue. Both girl throw single punches and fake few more in the proccess as the momentum has swung away from Matsumoto's favor again. Tiana impresses the crowd with some fancy footwork and adds more misery into her opponent's plans as she avoids closing the distance. Referee tries to encourage the girls by shouting 'box, box', but they hardly seem to care about him. This has turned into a chess game-like tactical display of boxing. A lot of audacious weaving and fake punches follow before the bell finally goes and there's still not a single knockdown to speak of in this bout.

Round 8:
Both girls still in very good physical shape and even Sayuki has regained some stamina back as the fight enters the deciding stages. Indeed, it's the local girl that moves forward again, looking to nail her English foe with a flurry of hooks to the head. Tiana weaves around them but gets pushed long the ropes and sidesteps to the right looking for a quick escape. Matsumoto finally has cracked that move and jumped to the left herself nearly crashing into the surprised opponent. Both girls finally get engaged in a wild exchange in close distance. Sayuki lands a couple of jabs to the ribs before Tiana rocks her with an uppercut to the jaw. Sayuki is clearly stunned and allows Benjamin to follow up with a nasty jab to the eye and couple of more hooks to the head. The Japanese looks soft on her knees, she tries to clinch, leans forward but Tiana jumps back stretching the ropes and looks for another punch to send the local girl crashing down on the canvas. However she misses a couple of hooks as Sayuki ducks really low on her legs and tries to keep her balance. She waives her arms and somehow manages to stay upright!!! Benjamin steps in on her though and looks to punch her straight in the nose from close distance. Unebelievable, but she misses!!! Sayuki swerved her head around that one and finally manages to clinch. More pushing and shoving goes on but now it's Tiana who tries to break it off and make full use of her brief moment of advantage. However it's all to no avail, Matsumoto survives this round with more clinching as the ref did nothing to separate them.

Round 9:
Tiana quickly up from her stool looking to continue the momentum with Sayuki visibly upset in her corner. It still looks like anybody's fight with two rounds to go and the final impression might decide it all once the fight potentially goes to the scorecards. Benjamin jabs with a lot of intensity and hopes to push the local girl along the ropes, but it's Sayuki's footwork worth a praise now as she circles around her opponent and allows her to wear out some energy. Tiana drops her left glove and suddenly gets hit with a low hook to the ribs. She covers up but Matsumoto jumps on her and follows up with more aggressive jabbing. Benjamin responds with a sky hook that nails Sayuki in the ear but hardly causes any damage. The local girl greets her teeth and leans her head against Tiana's face. The intensity has picked up with both girl now throwing wils punches almost looking for a lucky haymaker. A head swipe from Matusmoto suddenly catches Benjamin in the nose. That hardly looked accidental now! Referee turns a blind eye on it. Tiana curses in anger as she feels the inevitable coming. Sure enough, there's blood coming out of her nose again! That one bordered on a cheap shot from Sayuki, still no warning given though. Tiana visibly upset shoves her rival away with a sudden rush of strenght. Ref looks like he wants to jump in and check that nose wound again however the truly unbelievable happens seconds afterwards as Tiana throws herself all over Sayuki landing a good stiff jab to the nose herself. The local girl was surprised by this one as anyone else in the crowd and now her nose is busted up as well. Both girls are wounded and the ref finally steps in and orders the doctor to check both of them. One minute remaining in the ninth and the fight has turned into one big mess with both women refusing to go down!!! After a brief pause, the fight resumes and Tiana immediately wants to stamp an authority on this round and catches Sayuki in the chin with a well-placed stiff jab. Matsumoto covers up and jumps away against the ropes. Tiana all over her in no time, jabbing to the ribs and body. It makes little damage but the judges might get impressed by this display. Sayuki has nothing in the tank anymore and allows herself to be literally beaten up to a pulp in the corner. She stays upright though and the fight continues right down to the wire.

Round 10:
The crowd is on their feet cheering wildly as they sense, Benjamin's rush in the ninth might have just turned the fight in her favor. Matsumoto stares down the other end with eyes of a ghost. This bout has pushed her limits to the extreme and lasted longer than both her previous ones against Maffia and Kurkova put together. However the English girl has never fought full ten rounds before either.
Tiana not as agile from her stool but still with a spark in the eye. Her stamina has been impressive tonight but will that be good enough? Off we go into the tenth and the English girl continues her jabbing around Matsumoto's midsection. This time her efforts only catch Sayuki's elbows as the Asian girl looks calm, almost too calm, like before the storm. One minute gone and still no signs of any frontal attack from either side. Tiana steps around and throws a right hook to the head, Sayuki covers that and responds with a low hook to the ribs. That one lands good and forces the visitor back. Sayuki enters her last chance saloon and goes for the follow up with a left-right combination to the breasts before trying a big uppercut to the jaw. That one lands right on target and Tiana's head snaps back. The crowd goes wild as the English girl covers up along the ropes and Sayuki is right up to her pounding her relentlessly and looking to break through the guard. A couple of big jabs crash off the leather though and Benjamin is still upright!!! Inside the final minute nothing changes, Sayuki has her rival trapped along the ropes and looking to send her down on the canvas, but to no avail. Thirty seconds of unanswered blows to the ribs and Tiana ducks lower and lower trying to withstand the onslaught. Ref could have jumped in and stopped this beating already but he seems equally curious whether Sayuki can knock her opponent out on her own! Forty seconds on the clock and Sayuki has run out of steam alltogether, she throws one final jab on the arm and shakes her head in disbelief. Tiana has withstood all the barrage of punches and even has the courage to throw one back at her rival. Sayuki is so tired she allows it to land right on her chest and barely has enough stamina to make a couple of steps back. She looks like she's been targeted during the previous two minutes not vice versa. Benjamin circles away from the ropes and breaths very heavily herself. Both girls stare down at each other and remain rooted to the spot even after the bell! The fight is over and it's truly anyone's guess who will be the winner. Neither girl celebrates too much before the verdict, either they are too exhausted or too unsure about the final result. The crowd awaits the verdict and here it comes...

After ten rounds of boxing we go to the scorecards...

The judges score the bout: 97-95 for Sayuki Matsumoto as well as 97-97 and 97-97. The fight officially ends with a MAJORITY DRAW!!!!

Post-fight:
Both girls nod their heads in approval after the verdict has been announced. Despite some bad blood being drawn before the fight, they shake their hands and look generally pleased with the result. After all, Sayuki Matsumoto keeps her unbeaten record alive while Tiana Benjamin becomes the first women to stand tall against one of the most promising lightweights the BBU community has ever seen. It's especially worth a praise given the fact the bout took place on Matsumoto's home turf and some of the referee's decisions against Benjamin were questionable. The BBU scoring judges remained neutral though despite two of them giving Matsumoto a 10-8 advantage in the final round under the 10-point must system.

This result also opens up a strong possibility of a future rematch between Matsumoto and Benjamin, this time held in BBU headquarters in Cardiff.

Final result: Sayuki Matsumoto vs Tiana Benjamin (Majority Draw)